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roundtownnews.com
04 - 10 MAY 2012
Safety fears on Iberia flight
IBERIA EXPRESS, Spain’s newest airline, was this week accused of allowing strict safety rules to slip during a flight from Madrid to Alicante’s El Altet Airport. by jack troughton
Maypole dance ANIMAL CHARITY AKIRA raised an estimated 1,200€ with a successful May Fair on Tuesday as an international crowd basked in the sun and enjoyed entertainment and stalls. A traditional Maypole Dance tied up youngsters’ attention, while demonstrations by the Flamingos Cheerleaders, belly dancing, dancing and karate were appreciated by an international audience at Font Santa, Moraira, followed by a performance by the Shamrockers. The charity thanked Tanya Lacey for organising the event, volunteers for running stalls, and everyone for their support. “We are really pleased with the success of the fair, it was a beautiful day.”
See page 21
Frequent flyer John Pickford was “appalled” at standards on flight IB2424 on 25th April and has fired off a letter of complaint calling for urgent action. John had taken a party of 20 from Calpe U3A on a “Tigers and Dragons Cruise” around the Far East with flights booked through British Airways and was returning with some members of the party, others choosing to stay in the UK. “I have written to BA,” he said. “I have said that as a member of the enlarged group, it should be aware one of its new divisions, Iberia Express, is lacking in certain safety procedures.” Spanish airline Iberia – which merged with BA to form the International Airlines Group – launched low-cost carrier Iberia Express earlier this year aiming to turn around its loss making domestic division. The new airline promises cheaper prices would not compromise the quality of its service and, importantly, safety. However, John accused the cabin crew of not insisting international safety standards were followed and blamed a lack of training. ENFORCE “It is not a case of complaining but to bring to the airline’s attention they should do
something about the way safety is presented and enforced.” He said passengers had been allowed to board with overweight and over-sized luggage and “stuffed them into overhead lockers”, people had kept handbags and briefcases on their laps during take-off and landing, while mobile ‘phones and electronic games were used throughout the journey on the Airbus A320 200 series aircraft. “Having flown many years in business and many thousands of miles on different airlines, I was concerned about the lack of safety – concerned for the safety of the passengers and the crew,” said John. “My concern is if it does not improve and God forbid there is an accident and people have to get off the aircraft quickly, it could contribute to making a simple accident into something far worse.” He said in the Manchester Air Disaster of 1985, when a British Airtours Boeing burst into flames on the runway after an engine failed, 55 people had died – some unable to reach emergency exits because of panic and being impeded by baggage. “This is a new airline but they are not setting a very good example – and thought maybe a newspaper article will help highlight this and get something done about it.” Continued on page 4